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Wimbledon gets underway on Monday and we have picked out three possible upsets from the first round of the men's singles.
| What: | Wimbledon men's singles, Max Marterer vs Aljaz Bedene |
| Where: | All England Club, Wimbledon, London |
| When: | 27th June - 10th July 2022 |
| How to watch: | BBC or bet365's Sports Live Streaming |
| Odds: | Max Marterer 1/1, Aljaz Bedene 4/5 |
Max Marterer has already been cut from 6/5 by bet365 to defeat Aljaz Bedene in their All England Club opener and the early support may prove warranted.
German Marterer has been something of an underachiever in the first half of his career, but there is still hope that he could step up more with experience.
In qualifying for a Wimbledon main-draw berth, the 27-year-old upset promising Peruvian fifth seed Juan Pablo Varillas before making lighter work of Italy's Andrea Pellegrino and American Nicolas Moreno de Alboran and those outings may set up Marterer nicely for a crack at Bedene.
Slovene Bedene, who once moved to London and represented Britain, turns 33 next month so is unlikely to be making many more significant career strides.
He has won only three matches this year – two of those coming on clay in the French Open before succumbing to Novak Djokovic – and Bedene could be vulnerable to an opponent of Marterer's ability and untapped potential.
Bedene won their only previous meeting – on clay in Cordoba, Spain in 2019 – in straight sets. But the nippy grass in south-west London could be more to the liking of 27-year-old Marterer, who made the semi-finals of the Perugia Challenger earlier this month.
That was on clay but the fact that Nuremberg native Marterer has been more active than Bedene this year – he has played 33 matches compared to his opponent's nine – can only be a positive.
Wimbledon - Tennis: Men's Preview
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Wimbledon - Tennis: Women's Preview
Wimbledon - Tennis: Five Greatest Men's Shocks
| What: | Wimbledon men's singles, Hugo Grenier vs Marc-Andrea Huesler |
| Where: | All England Club, Wimbledon, London |
| When: | 27th June - 10th July 2022 |
| How to watch: | BBC or bet365's Sports Live Streaming |
| Odds: | Hugo Grenier 13/10, Marc-Andrea Huesler 8/13 |
Hugo Grenier seems to be making the most of the opportunities that come his way and the Frenchman could offer a spot of value to upset Switzerland's Marc-Andrea Huesler in the opening round of Wimbledon.
It's 1-1 between the pair in their personal series and all five of the sets they've contested have been close. Huesler won their first clash 7-6 4-6 6-4 on clay in his homeland in 2016, but Grenier took the honours in their second rumble last year when triumphing 7-6 7-5 on a hard court in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
The fact Grenier prevailed in their only fast-court meeting could be a pointer to their third meeting at the All England Club.
And there is more to like about the recent form of Grenier, who defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan in the recent Ilkley Challenger before taking a set off Jiri Vesely, while Huesler, fell in straight sets to Mackenzie McDonald in the first round in Halle.
Clearly the pair are being rated on their ranking, but Grenier is only 32 spots below world No. 104 Huesler on the latest ATP chart.
Huesler was in decent nick in April when winning two clay-court Challenger titles in Mexico. But Grenier may be the more progressive of the duo and looks to possess greater potential for improvement in his career, so is well worth chancing to emerge victorious in this battle of two 26-year-olds.
| What: | Wimbledon men's singles, Zdenek Kolar vs Benjamin Bonzi |
| Where: | All England Club, Wimbledon, London |
| When: | 27th June - 10th July 2022 |
| How to watch: | BBC or bet365's Sports Live Streaming |
| Odds: | Zdenek Kolar 5/1, Benjamin Bonzi 1/8 |
Benjamin Bonzi has been keeping himself busy on the main tour this year and the Frenchman has been playing pretty well too.
However, an opener at Wimbledon against Czech Zdenek Kolar could prove a difficult curtain-raiser and the favourite looks way too short to triumph in what could prove a much closer encounter than the oddsmakers are anticipating.
There's little between the pair as regards age – Bonzi is 26 while Kolar is 25 – and clearly the favourite enjoys an edge in terms of experience over his opponent.
However, that doesn't guarantee a comfy passage for Bonzi, who had to fight back to win their only previous meeting 3-6 6-4 7-5 in the opening round of the French Open in 2020.
Bonzi sits at 56th on the latest ATP chart compared to Kolar's 120th. But while the higher-ranked player obviously merits favouritism, a quote of 5/1 is way too dismissive of Kolar, whose best years are highly likely to lie ahead.
Bonzi did well to make the semi-finals of the main-tour event in Marseille in February and he went on to make the last 32 in Indian Wells when defeating compatriot Arthur Rinderknech and Italy's Lorenzo Sonego before being edged out by Jannik Sinner.
But Kolar has been playing some decent stuff himself too. He beat former top-ten player Lucas Pouille in the first round of the French Open before losing out to Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets. And it could be the case that his useful service weapon poses problems for Bonzi on the faster grass.
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